Back To School!

Well, my first day with kiddos was actually LAST Wednesday...yikes!  Can I tell you how absolutely EXHAUSTED I am!?  I forget every year how tired I am after the first week of school!

What I haven't told you all, however, is that I now am teaching FIRST GRADE!!!!  Wahoo!!  This actually was my second swap over the summer and I just hadn't posted about my new position.  I'm kind of glad I never did, so now I only have to tell you about my NEW new position. :)

I only found out I was teaching first a week before our inservice started....talk about shifting gears!  I spent all summer wrapping my brain around my OLD new position, only to change again!  Not only have I spent the last few weeks preparing myself for new curriculum, standards, schedules, and so forth, I  OBVIOUSLY also had to come up with a new decorating plan.  :)  I don't have pictures of my actual classroom because we have strict rules about associating our school with our personal blogs, but trust me, its cute and owl-o-riffic!  As for TpT  and Teacher's Notebook items, I will most likely be posting things that cater to both Kinder and First grade audiences. 

Not only has this past week been the start of my school year, but it also was a new start for Aunt Cheryl.  I posted about her situation earlier this month and her battle with Alzheimer's.  The same day I started school, Aunt Cheryl was moved to the Memory Care Unit of a Nursing Home.  As hard as this was for her and my uncle, we all know that this move will be the best option for all of us.  Please keep both of them in your prayers, and don't forget that all of my TpT proceeds from August are going to the Alzheimer's association in honor of Aunt Cheryl.

Hope you are enjoying the end of your summer/beginning of your school year!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Love, Sara :)

Back to School Sale!

TpT is throwing their annual Back To School today and tomorrow! Head on over to my store for some great deals!  And don't forget...all of my August profit is going to the Alzheimer's association in support of my Aunt Cheryl.  Read my last post to hear all about her and her story.  Happy weekend!!

Love, Sara :)

The Sale to End Alzheimer's

Growing up I always saw my Aunt Cheryl as one of the most unique people I knew.  She was energetic, organized, creative, and fiercely independent.  She was extremely generous, had great taste, was always immaculately dressed, had exquisite manners, and could shop like nobody's business.  Christmas was her holiday -  everything from decorations, to gifts, to meals, to the bows tied on packages looked as if they were straight from a magazine.  

 

This is from last summer... Aunt Cheryl is pointing out her diamonds to the camera. :)

About 5 years ago, however, things changed for my Aunt Cheryl.  She was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's.  In that short amount of time she has gone from holding normal conversations and driving a car, to not speaking at all and being confined to her house.  Her "words of wisdom for any young lady" that I heard regularly have stopped completely, and Christmas packages just aren't the same.  At 61 years old, she is younger than my own parents (sorry Mom for disclosing your age publicly!) and moving into a full time nursing home.  

 Decorating Aunt Cheryl's Christmas Tree

As hard as moving and being a new place has been, I can look back now and see God's hand in why He wanted me here.  Among other things, one of the most obvious reasons has been to be here for Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Don.  I have been able to help take care of her, have dinners with Uncle Don, and grow closer to them both.  The two of them have made this past year so special and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Every year since the diagnosis, my uncle has put together a team for the Houston Walk to End Alzheimer's.  He gets donations and recruits team members, and on several occasions has been the top fundraiser!  This year I am helping him in his fundraising efforts and donating all of my TpT sales and Teacher's Notebook August sales to his Alzheimer's Team.  As an added bonus, both of my stores are on sale for the entire month of August!!  Head over to my TpT Store or my Teacher's Notebook sale and support Alzheimer's research and Uncle Don's team.

Thank you so much in advance for your support of Aunt Cheryl and The Alzheimer's Association.  If you would like more information about Alzheimer's or how you can help, visit Houston's Walk to End Alzheimer's, or email me at kindergartenisahoot.blogspot.com for more information.  Thanks!!

Love, Sara

New Alphabet Activities!

Being that I haven't posted much over the summer, and school is right around the corner, (I start back this week!) it's about time I start getting back at it!!  I've finished some of my new back to school activities and I'm SUPER excited to share them!!  

I've created three new alphabet awareness downloads that are PERFECT for the beginning of the year. :)  The alphabet, as we all know, is known in various capacities at the beginning of the year, and these downloads include activities that are great for all of those different abilities.  Each download includes 7+ activity ideas complete with recording sheets...love those recording sheets. :)

Up first, Apples and Alphabets! 

 Who doesn't love an awesome alphabet theme for back to school?  Get yours at my TpT store, or my Teacher's Notebook Store.

I also created the cutest Farmyard Fun download as well!

Farm animals are great for anytime of the year, but I like to use them close to the beginning.  And I'm slightly in love with the cute pig cards... :)  Get your Farmyard Fun alphabet activities at my TpT Store, or my Teacher's Notebook Store.

Lastly, I made a Back To School alphabet download complete with a school supplies theme!  I know it is probably every teacher's love, but I LOVE school supplies!

 Get your Back to School alphabet activities at my TpT Store, or my Teacher's Notebook Store.

I have some BIG news coming in the next few weeks, so check back next week for some exciting surprises!  Have a great week!!

Love, Sara :)

Tell Me More, Tell Me More!

I saw this linky party over at Mrs. Lemons and decided to come out of my summer hiding place. :)  I love learning about all of my bloggy friends and their lives OUTside of the classroom!  Here we go...

1. I am the baby of my family, and I totally eat up my role. :)  There are 20 years between me and my oldest sister, and I've been an aunt since I was 4!

2. I am OBSESSED with birthdays!!  Every year my Dad and I make a number cake for however old I am turning.  It's probably one of my most favorite traditions. :)

3. I've been married over a year now and still sleep with my baby blanket... I cannot believe I just admitted that publicly... 

4. I love, love, LOVE traveling!!  Here is Mr. Hubs and I in Italy last summer!

5. My favorite color is pink!!  For our wedding, since I couldn't wear pink on the actual day, I got all new pink dresses to wear to each of my showers AND found the most fabulous pink shoes to wear with my gown...complete with glitter and bows!

 

6. I was a mega cheerleader in junior high and high school.  I cheered for sports, competed, coached, and even modeled uniforms for a catalog!

7. I am a complete sucker for my dogs.  I make them bows and necklaces and even have birthday parties for them.  This is Ellie Mae's first birthday (a while ago!) when she wouldn't keep her Disney princess hat on... :)

8. Christmas is my most favorite time of the year.  Even though we are all grown, all the kids still get matching pj's on Christmas Eve.  We have to sit at the top of the stairs and wait to see what Santa has brought us!

Now that I have scared you away from my blog forever... head on over and link up yourself!!  Hope you're having a good week!

Love, Sara :)

Galveston and SUMMER IS HERE!!

Hi everyone!  This is probably my 5th apology for my lack of posting, but life just gets so crazy sometimes!!!  

I mentioned a while back that we were going to Galveston on a field trip as an end to our beach and shell unit.  I was all sorts of nervous!  I mean... 60+ kids at a beach and they aren't allowed to touch the water... how in the world was that going to work?!  Can I tell you though?  BEST FIELD TRIP!!  It was so fun for the kids AND the teachers!  

They collected shells!!

The kids got out of school the Friday before Memorial Day, and I went back for two days last week.  It's now OFFICIALLY summer break and woohoo for that!  Because I am going to be in and out of town, I *probably* won't be posting much, but I am working on some great stuff for back to school that I will post closer to the end of the summer.  I promise I will be back and with a BIG announcement... :)  Well, maybe not that big, but an announcement nonetheless! 

Aaaaannnddd.... I just had to share this sweet picture of Reese swimming for the first time!!  She would only jump in the water to Mr. Hubs!!  Presh!!

 Happy summer!  (And if you're not on summer break yet, hang in there...it's just around the corner!)

Love, Sara :)

We Love Our Room Moms!

End of the year.  Whew.  There is so much to do before that much anticipated break!!  I know this might sound interesting, but this is the first year that my school has room moms!!  What a blessing room moms have been!  The Kindergarten teachers have been doing this for the room mom gifts for years, but I wanted to share because it is ADORABLE!!

First, we painted pots white and made little green lines to create grass.

Then, each child came up and they got to create a butterfly, ladybug, flower, caterpillar, or bumble bee with their finger.  I let the child of the room mom pick what they wanted to be, but I chose for everyone else... I wanted each pot to be even!  ...Maybe that's the control freak in me. :)

We then drew legs, antennas, etc. on on the finger print pictures, and wrote around the top of the pot.  We painted a clear protective coat on the pot and we will plant a flower in them before we give them away next week.  So cute!

Hope this helps if you were needing an idea!  Happy almost Friday!

Love, Sara :)